VILLA, Newcastle, Stoke, Wolves, of course, and Liverpool.

Last year’s roll of honour wasn’t bad when it came to away wins for Albion.

Yet, come 5pm tomorrow, they might well have secured half the number of home wins they took throughout the whole of last season.

The Hawthorns wasn’t a happy place for Roy Hodgson’s men last year.

Just six wins and three draws gave them a miserable return of 21 points from a possible 57 at B71.

That’s relegation form in any other year. Thankfully, the Baggies chose a good year to break a few hoodoos along the way.

So far this season it’s one point from two away games.

Which is why Albion mustn’t make the same mistake as last year at The Hawthorns.

It would be safe to assume the Baggies won’t record seven wins and five draws on their travels this season – I’m happy to be proven wrong, of course – which makes their home form imperative.

So far so good – back-to-back wins against the Merseyside duo, five goals and no goals conceded.

You would hope the psychological hurdles have now been overcome with those two victories.

It’s too early to say that a victory in any home game is ‘vital’ but the early momentum of this season mustn’t be lost for Albion on their own patch.

Last weekend’s defeat at Fulham was the footballing equivalent of being told to ‘pipe down – don’t get cocky just yet’.

But there must be no caution when it comes to playing in the Black Country.

Home is where Albion need to continue their evolution.

Last season would have seen them punished in any other campaign.

They’ll need to do it without Peter Odemwingie.

It’s a reflection on where Albion are these days that the striker’s absence is a bigger personal blow to him than it is to the team.

Zoltan Gera, Romelu Lukaku, Chris Brunt, Marcus Rosenberg, Graham Dorrans even – it’s a long time since a Baggies boss had so many options available to him to fill one role.

And that’s before we even get around to thinking about Yassine El Ghanassy, who certainly has potential but, as Steve Clarke admitted, still has a lot more to learn about the defensive side of the game.

He has yet to make his Premier League bow. You assume he’s more likely to figure in Wednesday’s Capital One Cup game.

In any case, Odemwingie’s moment of madness will impact on him significantly.

No longer can he or any player north of the defence assume their place is assured in the first team.